Days 12 -16: Thai Red Curry with Ground Turkey

As you've all heard by now, something tragic happened at the Boston Marathon.  I am still shocked and have been very disturbed by it.  Before I actually get on my soap box about this topic, let me go ahead and move on to my Whole30 experience so far (and another recipe).

Over the weekend, I was in Austin, TX for a few reasons: to celebrate a friend's birthday, to hang out with a girlfriend of mine, and to run the Austin 10/20.  What's the Austin 10/20? I'm glad you asked! It's a 10 mile race with 20 bands - very similar to the Rock n' Roll half/full marathon series.  This past race was the second race for Austin 10/20 and they are going to try and start a series.  There's a race coming up next year in San Diego, California for their 10/20.  Pretty awesome!

I think being on Whole30 affected my race in a not so pleasant way.  First, I was a good minute slower than usual and second, I injured myself.  Now, I did contribute to the injury by running cold - meaning, I did not warm-up nor did I go out for any runs the week leading up to the race.  However, I did hit a wall and was not able to get out from it.  I was really disappointed with my time.  What I didn't do, and I knew I should have, was go on the Whole30 forum for athletes.  On there, many people have posted about what to eat the day before, day of, and during the race.  I messed up in so many ways...

First, I didn't have a carb-heavy meal the day before.  I actually went to a vegetarian restaurant because my girlfriend wanted to try it out.  I'll be honest, a salad to me is not a meal at all.  I need and want protein with every meal and that didn't happen on this trip (not an issue, I'll mark it as a learning how to eat away from home).  I even bought 2 bags of plantain chips (they're compliant) and that wasn't helpful either.

Second, 2 hours before the race I had a burger patty with an egg and mixed fruits.  For some reason, I felt my burger at about mile 7 and it was not comfortable.  Honestly, I wouldn't have had a burger patty before a race, but I was away from home and didn't want to be bothersome to my friend so I brought that patty from home (it was easy to nuke in the morning!).  Anyway, it was a mistake and now I think I know better and will be testing  out some pre-race breakfast items.

Third, (and I've mentioned this earlier)... I did not run at all the week leading up to the race.   Not the best idea when you're suppose to be training properly (and I obviously did not).  No worries, I am seeing a physical therapist this Friday and hopefully it's nothing bad.

Okay, I promised ya'll a recipe and here it is:

Thai Red Curry with Ground Turkey:

• 1 lb of ground turkey (or your preferred choice of protein)
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 cup of carrots, diced
• 1/2 an onion, sliced 
• 1 - 2 tbsp of red curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen)
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 tsp of ground ginger 
• 1 tsp of fish sauce (I use Red Boat)
• 1 tsp of coconut amino 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of red crushed peppers (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add oil and brown the ground meat (add salt and pepper for more flavors to your meat).  Remove the meat once it's browned.
3. In the same pan, add the coconut milk and curry paste and stir together.  Throw in the onions and carrots.  Cook for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. 
4. Then add the ground ginger, coconut amino, fish sauce, and meat.
5. Serve over cauliflower rice (with red pepper flakes if you like it spicy) and enjoy!

Day 6 & 7: Turkey Chorizo Scramble (and my first weekend of Whole30)

I think I survived my first weekend of Whole30! I was even with my sister for most of Day 7 and survived it... wow!  Quick recap: on Day 6, I had a run (4 For the Park) and I did not allot enough time for me to make breakfast, digest, and go all out for my race.  Instead, I got up, made coffee, raced and noticed my energy level depleted after mile 2.5.  I really need to learn how to eat a good breakfast before a race, especially when I have one coming up at the end of the month (well, I have another one next Sunday, but the race I care about is on the last weekend of April).  Hopefully, I will have something figured out by then.

On to food: I found this turkey chorizo at Whole Foods the other day.  I was excited because I like chorizo and I figure I need to change up my breakfast protein here and there (I've been eating a lot of chicken sausages lately).  Anyway, the turkey chorizo is all natural and Whole30 (paleo) compliant.  I was so thrilled because I was honestly looking for bacon and none of them were compliant.  So for Saturday brunch and Sunday breakfast, I made myself scrambled chorizo with avocado slices.  It was seriously delicious!  In fact, I had to text my girlfriend about it so she can pick up some for herself the next time she went grocery shopping (which happened to be today). 

Again, this was super easy to make:

Turkey Chorizo Scramble (makes one serving)

• 1/4 cup of turkey chorizo (or more if you prefer)
• 1/8 cup of onion, diced
• 1/4 cup of mushrooms, sliced
• 1/8 cup of tomato 
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 of an avocado (or more if you prefer) 

 Directions:

1. Heat pan at medium-high heat and cook the turkey chorizo (you do not need any added oils)
2. Once the chorizo is browned, add mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together.
4. Once the mushrooms looks done, pour the eggs over all chorizo and veggies (make sure it covers the pan.  
5. When the eggs look almost done, scramble it up! 
6. Transfer the scramble onto a plate and place the avocado slices on top.
7. Enjoy!

Day 4: Coconut Butter and the Last Cake Tasting with my Sister...

Did I mention how grateful I am for plantain chips?? Seriously, it's my lifesaver through this Whole30 challenge (so far...).  However, I need to be careful because I can seriously finish a bag of them in NO TIME!  However, I have to admit that the plantain chips are very filling and I haven't craved nor felt hungry all afternoon (I had them for lunch along with my Five Guys bun-less burger again... I know, I won't have another one this week or next).

What worried me tonight was my sister's last cake tasting for her wedding.  I scheduled most of my sister's wedding cake tasting and had scheduled her last one for April 4th because the reviews for this place were so hot that I had to fit it in!  This was before I knew the Whole30 challenge was going to be in April (or I would have found a way to squeeze it in March).  I was actually scared I would cheat tonight because the last few times I went cake tasting with her... I ended up finishing most of the cakes (well, me and her fiancee).  I have a serious sweet tooth, really.

The cake place served up some serious cakes.  They provided samples of: red velvet, traditional, almond mousse, white cake with strawberry filling, white cake with raspberry filling, lemon mousse, Italian cream, strawberry, and a few others that I've forgotten.  I was actually sad because the place smelled wonderful when we entered and I really wish it was still March!  However, I was super good and only drank water.

Later, my sister did tell me that it was a good thing I didn't cheat for those cakes because she didn't think it was worth it.  The cakes we had in March were better - whew! If anything, I'm glad this was the last cake tasting for us because she made her decision! So I survived her last cake tasting and I had a few spoonful of coconut butter once I got home.  That made it all better for me.

Speaking of coconut butter, you're probably wonder what it is.  It's just coconut flakes that has gone through the food processor and it turns into this creamy, sweet "butter".  It's all natural and very good as a snack!  I'll just give you a quick recipe on that to prove how easy it is to make coconut butter.

Ingredients:

• Unsweetened Coconut Flakes or Shreds (1 bag)

Directions:

1. Empty the bag of coconut flakes into your food processor.
2. Turn your food processor on and let it go for about 8 minutes.
3. Check to see if you need to stop the food processor and scrap down the coconut.
4. Around 8 minutes you will see the flakes turn into this creamy substance.
5. Empty the butter out into a mason jar (or jar of your choice).
6. ENJOY! 

Paleo Chocolate Cake

I know... the first paleo recipe I blog about would be dessert!  I'm sure you're not surprised by that ;) Real quick story about how I ended up baking this cake. It was one of my close girlfriend's 30th birthday.  Her husband and I thought about ordering this paleo cake from this restaurant, but for 12 serving/slices... it would have costs us $65! Umm... the cake was good, but is it really worth $65?!?! Anyway, my gf's husband asked if I could bake a paleo cake.  Uhh... I can bake, but paleo is a whole new ballgame for me since I have yet to venture into the baking area.  

However, being me... I took the challenge and researched on some recipes.  I finally decided on this one from Elana's Pantry (with some modifications, of course!).  I told my girlfriend's husband that if the recipe failed, I would bring gluten-free cupcakes from Crave.  Luckily, the cake was a success!  3/4 of the cake was destroyed and my girlfriend was thrilled to have some cake to take home.  

Ingredients for the cake:

• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 10 (yes, ten) eggs
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted 
• 1.5 cups agave nectar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest (I used tangerine  zest since I did not have any oranges) 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degree F.  
2. Grease the cake pans with coconut oil (you can either use a sheet cake pan or 2 nine-inch cake pans)
3. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda (dry ingredients)
4. In another bowl (large) blend together eggs, oil, agave nectar, vanilla, and zest (I actually blended all this in my Kitchen Aide mixer)
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the large bowl until everything is blended
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes
7. Allow the cake to complete cool before frosting

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1 cup of dark chocolate (chopped or chips), preferably 70% or higher 
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)
• 2 tbsp. agave nectar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan (small), melt chocolate and coconut oil together over low heat
2. Stir in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place the sauce pan (with the contents of course) in the freezer for about 10 minutes to cool
4. Remove from the freezer and whip the frosting with an electric blender until it's thick and fluffy 
5. Frost over cooled cake (or the frosting will melt right into the cake)

Now, really interesting note here about the frosting.  It does not "fluff" up like what you're used to.  Also... be careful of leaving the frosting in the freezer for too long.  I left mine in there too long and ended up re-heating the frosting and placing it back in the freezer to try and "whip" it to a consistency I was happy with.  At the end, the frosting turned out to be a thin layer and not thick like how I would normally like my cakes to be.   Regardless, it was still good and everyone enjoyed the cake :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. WOOD! I am so happy you enjoyed the cake!  Actually, I was more thankful that it turned out well and will probably try to make some dark chocolate chip scones in the near future :)